From left, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Neil Young of Buffalo Springfield perform together during the Bridge School Benefit concert in Mountain View, Calif., Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010. The group last played in public in 1968 at the Long Beach Arena. Theconcert benefits the Bridge School, which assists children with severe physical impairments and complex communication needs.

Photo: Eric Risberg, AP

From left, Stephen Stills, Richie Furay and Neil Young of Buffalo...

Image 2 of 30

One audience member rocks out during Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre Saturday, October 23, 2010, Mountain View, Calif.

Jackson Browne performs during the Bridge School Benefit concert in...

Image 11 of 30

Elton John performs during the Bridge School Benefit concert in Mountain View, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010. The concert benefits the Bridge School, which assists children with severe physical impairments and complex communication needs.

Photo: Tony Avelar, AP

Elton John performs during the Bridge School Benefit concert in...

Image 12 of 30

Kris Kristofferson and performs during the Bridge School Benefit concert in Mountain View, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010. The concert benefits the Bridge School, which assists children with severe physical impairments and complex communication needs.

Neil Young performs during the Bridge School Benefit concert in Mountain View, Calif., Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010. The concert benefits the Bridge School, which assists children with severe physical impairments and complex communication needs.

Parents and Students of the Bridge School watch David Lindley's performance during Neil Young's annual Bridge School Benefit concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre Saturday, October 23, 2010, Mountain View, Calif.

For a group from rock's Pleistocene era that managed only one real hit in the band's short life and haven't appeared together onstage in 43 years, Buffalo Springfield has always attracted an outsize degree of sentiment, largely because of its two famed alumni: Stephen Stills and Neil Young.

The three surviving original members - Stills, Young and Richie Furay - provided an emotional finale to Young's 24th annual Bridge School benefit concert Saturday at Mountain View's Shoreline Amphitheatre, but the bill was crowded with stunning performances from members of the little repertory company Young has put together for his clambake over the years.

Young himself was all over the stage Saturday - singing with Emmylou Harris and Costello; playing guitar with Pearl Jam; dancing with his wife, Bridge School founder Pegi Young; strumming his Hank Williams guitar; and wearing a leather fringed jacket for the finale he has probably owned since Springfield days.

Stephen Stills, on the other hand, wore a dark sport coat, blue shirt and tie, khaki slacks and thick, horn-rimmed glasses that made him look more like somebody's Uncle Bernie than a rock star, but when the three musicians joined voices for the Beach Boys-style harmonies that opened "On the Way Home," their ancient connection flickered alive.

Young started the concert seven hours earlier with his customary two-song solo performance of "Comes a Time" and "Sugar Mountain," as the afternoon drizzle finally stopped. When a performer the caliber of Jackson Browne makes an appearance at the Bridge show before the sun goes down, there is a heavy-duty lineup on the card. Browne and guitarist David Lindley, who played dobro, fiddle, oud - everything but guitar - followed the inevitable alt-rock opening acts, this year with Grizzly Bear and Modest Mouse in those roles.

In its near-quarter-century, the Bridge School concert has grown into a tribal ritual all its own, beginning with the Youngs' invocation and ending with the all-star sing-along of "Rockin' In the Free World." The school emblem hangs above a raised platform across the center of the stage where a couple of dozen kids park their wheelchairs, their parents hovering behind them. Every performer acknowledged the youths. Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, a veteran of many Bridge shows, even introduced one by name (Bridge School chairperson Pegi Young knew every one of their names when she introduced them at the start of the concert).

This is a concert - all acoustic, by custom and Young's dictate - that wears its heart on its sleeve.

A murmur rippled through the crowd during Kris Kristofferson's set when Juan Uribe hit his eighth inning home run putting the Giants in the World Series. Bridge master of ceremonies Jerry Pompili, the voice of Winterland through the '70s, kept the crowd updated on the score between acts. Kristofferson, making his Bridge concert debut (can't sing - still cool), was originally to appear with country great Merle Haggard, who had to pull out for health reasons, which may be more serious than the press releases indicate given that Kristofferson suggested people pray for Haggard.

Costello and Harris sang a series of slow, lovely songs, inviting Young, Kristofferson and Lucinda Williams to join them at various points, a complete change from the raucous, upbeat punkish Billy Idol, who had just rocked the place with a super-charged "Rebel Yell." The skies opened up at that point and poured for the rest of evening, but the crowd stayed in place for Pearl Jam and the Springfield reunion.

By the time the repertory company reassembled for the finishing touch, the anthematic "Rocking in the Free World," it was Neil Young's world, and we were all just living in it.